JoKeR
by XxXBuri-ChanXxX
Summary: Brianna can't figure out whats happening to her. The Joker's usual positive attitude is disappearing, and she finds herself falling on the brink of insanity. Can a certain conman help her, or is it too late? *formerly Misery Loves Company* NO NICKXOC!
1. I shall name you Loretta!

**Hello everyone! First I would like to thank everyone that reviewed after I updated, I appreciate it :) And now we begin the story again!**

**The song of this story is Joker, by Hatsune Miku. Vocaloid has officially stolen my soul….along with left 4 dead XD I FINALLY GOT THE GAME! Which has really helped with this….LET'S BEGIN!**

**~oOo~**

_It's time to start a new showtime_

_Invite a woman in her prime_

_Why don't we play a card game?_

_No need to know the others name_

We didn't know where to go. Our families, our friends, were dead. Everyone else had already been evacuated, and those who hadn't…..They weren't human anymore.

"Get to the gun shop!" Rhianne yelled. We tried to fight our way past the few infected that came at us, but it was hard. They scratched and clawed at our skin, drawing blood. We kicked and punched, but it hardly did any damage.

"Get inside!" Katy yelled. She was already inside the shop. Rhianne and I pushed past the infected and ran inside. Katy locked the door behind us.

"So what now?" I asked. They merely shrugged. I groaned, and leaned against the wall. Katy looked around, and then grabbed one of the guns off the shelf. I didn't know what she was doing, but then she held the butt of the gun above the glass, and smashed it.

"Merry Christmas," She said with a smile. I let out a small laugh, and then went over to the gun display. There were some pistols, and a sub machine gun.

"Oh hell yes!" Rhianne said, grabbing two double pistols and aiming them at the wall, "Now I can be just like Cloe from Left 2 Die!" She then proceeded to make firing noises, and ninja rolled behind the counter. Katy and I laughed.

"What can I help you fine ladies with today?" She asked, popping up from behind the counter.

"I need something that can kill a zombie," Katy went along with it.

"And something that won't recoil me on my ass," I added. Rhianne nodded, and turned to the wall. She thought about it for a second, and picked up one of the guns. She gave it to Katy.

"Here you are, my dear! An AK-47!" Katy took it slowly, and cocked it. She aimed it at the wall, but then stopped.

"Hold me, will ya? I don't wanna fall over," she said. I nodded, and grabbed her shoulders. She aimed for the wall, and shot the gun. The shot rang through our ears, and hurt mine quite badly. I had to hold Katy steady, or else she probably would have fallen on her ass.

"I'll keep it," she said after a few seconds. Rhianne nodded, and then preceded to hand me a sub machine gun.

"A machine gun, for the good sir," She joked.

"Oh hush," I muttered. I aimed the gun at the door, where a few infected could still be heard.

"3….2….1…." I murmured, and then pulled the trigger. The bullets tore through the door, and blood splattered the wall.

"And there, my dear children, are the first kills of this war," I said, setting down the gun on the counter. However, they were not my first kills. Did they need to know that? Of course not.

"And probably not the last," Katy sighed. I looked at my gun, and then smiled.

"I shall name you Loretta!" I declared.

"…..what?"

"I named it Loretta," I said simply.

"Then I shall name mine Chrome," Rhianne smiled.

"….Jesse," Katy decided. She then went over to the corner of the room, where there were small red packs with crosses on them.

"I'm guessing med kits, or something religious," Rhianne smirked.

"Caution: Holy water inside. Do not open if you are satanic," I said in a monotone. They laughed.

"I guess we better patch up, pack up, and head out," Katy said. She opened up one of the med kits, but stopped and turned to us.

"Anyone know how to heal someone….?" She laughed nervously.

"You're lucky I've gotten hurt a lot in my thirteen years of life," I said, walking over to her and taking the pack. First I went to covering up Katy's wounds, and then turned expectantly to Rhianne.

"I'm fine," she huffed. I looked over at Katy, and she nodded. My blonde friend then jumped on Rhianne, and pinned her down. Rhianne began screaming some unintelligible gibberish, and I went to healing her arms as Katy pinned her down.

"Stop moving!" I screamed at her.

"NEVER! DIE YOU FAWKING TURTLES! DIE BY THE SHELLS OF YOUR FALLEN COMRADS!" Katy and I didn't even flinch at her strange comment. About five minutes later, I had successfully wrapped the gauze around her arms.

"I WIN!" I yelled in triumph, and Katy jumped off of Rhi. Rhianne glared at us, and stood.

"Alright, we're patched up, now we need to pack up and head out," I said. We each grabbed a med kit, two pistols, and a larger gun. Then, we heard something outside: gun shots.

"Other survivors!" Rhianne said excitedly. We heard their voices just outside the door.

"Quick! Unlock it!" Katy ordered. I ran to the door, and unlocked it. I peaked outside, and saw four others out there. They were surrounded by zombies.

"They need help," I said, grabbing my gun. I held it up, and pulled the trigger. The zombies surrounding them fell to the ground as my bullets found their mark.

"Get in here!" I yelled to them. They quickly ran over to the shop, and I kept the door open as they entered. I shut it behind them, and locked it.

"Thanks kid," One of the guys said. He had a tan shirt on it that said "bull shifters" and a blue hat with a truck on it.

"No problem," I said with a smile.

"So what are your names?" The girl asked. She (for the lack of a better word) was black, and had a pink dépêche mode shirt on.

"I'm Brianna."

"Katy."

"Rhianne." We introduced ourselves.

"I'm Rochelle," The girl said.

"Nick," One of the other guys said. He had a white suit on, which made me wonder what the hell he was doing wearing a suit in the middle of the apocalypse….

"My friends call me Coach, I guess you can do the same," he was…cubby, and wore what looked like a school uniform. That explained the name….

"And I'm Ellis. You can call me El if ya want to, but I prefer Ellis 'cause El kinda sounds like a girl's name…But you can call me El if ya want to," I could tell he was going to be talking a lot.

"So where are you guys headed?" I asked.

"Liberty Mall. We missed the last evac, and we're hoping their still evacuating at the mall," Rochelle explained.

"Where are you kids heading?" Coach asked.

"We don't know," I shrugged.

"We have guns, we have med kits, but we have nowhere to go," Rhianne said.

"Well, you're welcome to come with us, if ya want to," Ellis offered.

"Ok," I said with a smile.

"Oh great, not only to we have to worry about zombies, we also have to worry about babysitting…fabulous," Nick muttered. I could tell he was going to be a pain in my ass.

"Bah, you used the wrong word….it's more like day care, 24/7," I said with smile. Everyone laughed but Nick.

"It's simple: don't get in our way, and we won't get in your way," Rhianne said. Nick rolled his eyes, and didn't say anything.

"I guess we better grab some guns…." Rochelle said. We moved out of the way, and let the adults take their pick.

"Candy store for adults," Nick mused. I tried my hardest to hide my smile.

~oOo~

**I know that was short, and I apologize. Don't worry, there will be more zombie action in the next chapter!~ review?**


	2. Blood Shed

**So far only four reviews have been received! ;~; c'mon…share the love man! XD**

**Responses since some people don't have accounts:**

**Super Dick- I would love to deny that, but it is true. It is an insert….But a fun one :) I guess you could say we could "giggle" about it….but it will get serious later on in the story. Pairing? No. XD We're thirteen, and the others are….old. hehe no kind of romance there. And no, we probably wouldn't act quite like that, but I know we would keep our spirits up, so we wouldn't spaz out and have a heart attack :D**

**Anon: I know how to use a gun….kinda….XD**

**More reviews would be appreciated!~**

**~oOo~**

_Do you understand the rules?_

_True love is only for fools_

_If you want a pretty favor_

_Consequences cannot waver_

"_Hello?" _I jumped at the new voice.

"I'm not the only one that heard that, right?" Katy asked.

"No Katy, you have finally lost it. YOU ARE INSANE!" I said dramatically.

"_Is there anyone there?" _Katy looked at me smugly when the voice sounded again. We went over to the door, where there was a small speaker.

"Hello?" Ellis said as he pressed the button.

"_Hello there. I'm Whitaker, the owner of this store." _ Owner? Oh shit…..

"_How many of you are down there?"_

"Seven of us. Four adults and three teenagers," I said.

"_Well Little Lady, I'll make a deal with ya. You see, I've barricaded myself up on the roof. I have enough ammo to kill all the zombies in this city ten times over, and enough food to last me year. But, in my haste, I forgot the Cola," _Whitaker said.

"I know how that feels!" Rhianne laughed, "I do that all the time, except with Pepsi."

"_Pepsi? I hate Pepsi. It's got a generic taste." _Rhianne's face paled.

"I'm going to come up there and shoot you with your own god damn gu-" Katy quickly covered Rhianne's mouth with her hand.

"W-What Rhianne meant to say was….eh….what do you want us to do about it?" I covered with a nervous laugh.

"_Go over to the convenient store across the street and get me some cola, and I'll let you keep your guns," _He said, "_where are you heading anyway?"_

"Liberty Mall," Coach said.

"_The way is blocked by a truck. Get my cola, and I'll blow up the truck AND let you keep the guns. I think it's a pretty damn good deal," _Whitaker said.

"Yeah sure. We'll go get your cola," Nick said.

"_Alright! But be ready for a fight. When you open the door the alarm is gonna make a lot of racket, so you better be ready," _he warned us.

"You got it," Coach said.

"Let's do this," I smiled. We went through the door to our left, with Coach leading. As we went through the door, I hear Rhianne whisper:

"This'll be good." I couldn't help but smile.

Did I fear the zombies? Of course. Just the sight of them scared me half to death….I couldn't shoot to save my life, that I knew. I went hunting once with my dad in my short life time, and, of course, I couldn't shoot worth shit. So what kept me from breaking down right now? My friends of course. If I hadn't had them….I wouldn't know what to do.

"Hey Bri, you ok?" Katy asked me.

"Hmmm? Oh, uh, yeah I'm fine," I waved it off as we walked up the stairs. The sunlight hit my face with full force, making me have to shield my eyes with my arm.

"There's the store down there, and Whitaker is here…." Nick said. The small convenience store was only a parking lot away. The door that we would put the cola through was right next to us.

"Battle plan?" Rhianne asked.

"One person goes in to grab the cola…." Rochelle suggested.

"The rest of us defend," I added. Everyone nodded.

"Who's gonna get the cola?" Ellis asked.

"I will. I'm smaller, faster, and I don't shoot very well…." Katy volunteered.

"Okay Young'un, just make sure you hurry," Coach said. Katy nodded. We walked through the desolate parking lot, and approached the convenient store.

"Well, we might as well get this over with," I muttered.

"Did ah ever tell yew about the time when my buddy Keith-"

"Ellis, is now the best time?" Nick cut him off. Ellis just shrugged and said "okay."

"Ready?" Katy had her hands pressed against the door, ready to open it. We nodded, and faced the area around us. Katy slammed her small body into the door, and it busted open. The alarm hurt my ears, like the fire alarms at school always did. The cries of the hoard told me to be afraid…..but all I felt was adrenaline pulse through my veins. I caught movement off to my right, and quickly fired in that direction. At least ten zombies fell when my bullets found their mark.

"Damn, didn't know a thirteen year old could shoot like that," Nick said. I just smiled.

"I got it!" Katy yelled, the cola in hands. We formed a circle around her, and began running through the parking lot. I watched as the zombies tried to rip us to pieces, but there were too many of us. They couldn't touch us if they tried.

"Smoker!" Rochelle cried. Something gross and slimly wrapped around Rhianne's torso, and whipped her back. The thing pulled her back towards the bushes, and she cried for help. Ellis lifted up his sniper, and shot only once. Whatever was holding Rhi let go.

"You ok?" Ellis asked her, helping her to her feet.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine," she covered with a nervous laugh. She picked up her gun, which she had dropped in the process.

"C'mon, we gotta keep moving," Nick said urgently. He looked towards me, then suddenly cried,

"Behind you!" I turned as fast as possible, but the thing pounced on me. It growled as I hit the ground, and it started ripping at my torso. I screamed as its nails ripped at my stomach.

"SHOOT IT!" I cried. Ellis took a swing with his gun, and knocked the thing off. Rhi helped me on my feet, and I looked over the wound. It wasn't as bad as I thought, but I had quite a few scratches.

"You ok?" Katy asked. I nodded, and tried to smile. Rochelle handed me my gun, and I reloaded it.

"Let's go!" Coach yelled, and we continued running. I noticed how Rhianne and Nick both stayed closer than the others. Rhianne I could understand: But Nick?

"Get up the stairs!" I yelled, and turned back to the hoard. I pulled on the trigger, and didn't let go. Rochelle and Katy took off up the stairs, while the rest of us defended down below. A few seconds later, a huge missile type thing shot from the top of the building. It hit the tanker in the road, and it exploded. Most of the infected around us were knocked off their feet, or lit on fire.

"Now THAT'S how you clear a path," Nick smirked. I laughed slightly, but only for a few seconds.

"Last one to the mall gets to take first watch!" Ellis cried, then took off down the road.

"I love a good challenge," Rhianne laughed, and took off after him. Oh, I was so losing this…..


	3. When Good Ideas Go Horribly Wrong

_If you make a choice, you will not be able to take it back because_

_I have already put my cards into play!_

I was the last one in the safe house, right behind Nick. _Damn. _I gasped for air, and sat down on the ground. My arm barely even touched my stomach, but where it made contact it burned.

"I almost forgot about your hunter wounds….want me to patch those up for you?" Rochelle offered.

"That would be great," I said with a grimace. Blood had ruined the front of my shirt, but I was sure that wouldn't be the end of it. We had all of the guys look away while she patched up my wounds.

"You got lucky. The Hunter didn't get much but skin….Your lucky he didn't get through to your insides," Rochelle said.

"So they're called Hunters?" I would have to note of that for later….. She nodded. She wrapped the last bit of the gauze around my cuts, and began putting the stuff away.

"You're finished," she said with a smile, "You guys can turn around again." The guys obeyed, and went back to loading their guns. I pulled my shirt over the wounds, but there wasn't much it was going to do for me anymore. Damn, I liked this shirt too…..

I watched as Rhianne peeked out inside the mall. She frowned, then turned back to us.

"Do you really think the evac is in there?"

"Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. We won't know 'till we actually get in there," I said with a smile. I was debating in my mind if I actually believed the nonsense that just spewed from my mouth. Honestly, what were the odds? The city was abandoned: we weren't getting out of here anytime soon. Rhianne nodded with a smile, along with Katy.

"Everyone grab some more ammo," Nick instructed, apparently trying to ignore my comment. I did as I was told with a scowl, but then stopped.

"Which…..ammo goes with my gun….?" I asked.

"I was just about to ask the same thing…." Katy laughed nervously. Rochelle and Nick both walked over, and grabbed certain types of ammo from the pile that was on the small table. Rochelle handed Katy the ammo, and kindly asked, "Do you know how to load it?"

"Hehehe….erm….no….." she admitted. Nick held out the ammo for me to take. I smiled slightly, and took the ammo from his hand. I noticed three different rings adorning his fingers.

"Please tell me you know how to reload," He sighed unhappily.

"Of course," I said, "I've handled a gun once." I wasn't lying either. My dad showed me how to use a gun when I was ten, when my parents started letting me stay home alone. The memory caused a certain discomfort in my heart, but that was understandable: it hadn't even been a week since…..then. I shivered at the uninvited memory, and reloaded. Nick watched me with intense eyes.

"…What?" I demanded. Shit, did my voice just crack?

"Nothin…." He shrugged, and grabbed his magnum.

"We ready?" Ellis asked. We nodded, and began to file out of the safe room.

~oOo~

The mall was dark as hell, minus the small bit of setting sunlight from the windows. There were zombies _everywhere. _It didn't seem like I could go a few seconds without pulling the trigger of Loretta.

"Oh sweet!" I heard Rhi say. I turned, and saw her holding up a katana.

"Oh that's kick ass man! I remember this one time, when mah buddie Keith thought that he could actually be a ninja, but the truth was he wasn't. Ya see, he took one of them ninja swords and tried to do a back flip over his pool, but he missed and ended up landing in the pool, but the pool didn't have any water in it! He fell over ten feet into the bottom of his pool, and he-"

"Ellis sweetie, can this wait?" Rochelle asked sweetly. He shrugged, smiled, and said "Okay."

"Can you finish the story later though?" Rhianne asked, lowering her sword.

"O'course," Ellis said with a smile.

"Look out!" Nick suddenly yelled. As I turned I saw a zombie headed straight for me. I didn't have enough time to pull my gun up, but a bullet met its head anyway. I felt the crimson blood splatter on me. Everyone seemed to stop.

"Stop getting so distracted, you're going to get yourself killed that way," Nick said stiffly, then kept walking forward. So he was the one that protected me…..

I wiped the blood from my face, only to feel another memory hit me. _I had wiped my own family's blood from my body after…..after….._I couldn't bring myself to think about it. It hurt like a thousand tons weighing down on my chest.

"You ok Bri?" Katy asked.

"Fine," I waved it off with another smile. I followed Nick as he moved forward, but didn't speak. We walked down the escalators, and through the bottom floor of the mall. We hadn't met anything too bad, but I was sure the worst was yet to come.

~oOo~

I dived behind one of the small kiosks, dodging one of the pieces of concrete the Tank threw. I reloaded my sub-machine gun, and peeked around the corner of the stand. The giant was chasing after Ellis, and was gaining fast. I aimed, and fired. I refused to let go of the trigger until this thing was dead. It was gaining on Ellis, but suddenly changed directions to gain on a different target. I watched in horror as Katy's small form was thrown all the way over to me. She hit the ground, and gradually rolled to a stop on her side: _she didn't get up. _I ran over to her as quickly as I could, fear and adrenaline pumping hard and fast through my veins. I rolled her over, and she groaned. I sighed with relief; she was still alive.

"C'mon you gotta get up Katy; we don't have time to screw around," I said, helping her up. As she stood, she nearly fell over. She couldn't even hold her own weight.

"Katy?"

"Yeah?" She whispered weakly. _I hope this idea works…_

"You have double pistols, right?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Ok, I'm going to put you on my back, and you're going to cover me with your pistols, ok?" I instructed.

"Can you hold me?"

"Are you shittin' me Katy? You're a twig. Of course I can carry you," I lifted her onto my back with ease, and she pulled out her pistols. Then I realized something. The tank was gone: _and so was everyone else. _

"Shit shit shit shit _shit," _I muttered, and began running as fast as possible in the direction in front of us. I heard the roar of the Tank, and knew I was headed in the right direction.

"SHIT!" I heard Nick yell. The sound of the pistols firing in my ear made me stumble slightly, but I didn't lose my grip on Katy. As we came around a corner, we saw the Tank fall the ground with a crash. Nick was in the process of getting up off the ground.

"Are we all okay?" I asked, approaching the group.

"Everyone but me," Katy whispered weakly and leaned against me.

"want me to take her?" Ellis offered. I nodded, noticing how heavy she had been getting. We slipped her onto Ellis's back, and I went to grab my gun, only to realize I left it behind.

"Shit, we gotta go back," I said.

"Why?" Nick asked. He was obviously irritated.

"I left my gun back there, and I don't have another weapon," I said.

"Well then, let's go young'un," Coach said. I nodded, and we began running back to the spot where the Tank had knocked us back. I picked up my gun, and went to turn when I heard familiar growling. I stiffened, and felt my heart stop. _Oh god, please don't let it be a hunter. _God obviously wasn't hearing my prayers at that moment. I saw it jump from the second floor, and land directly on Ellis, knocking him and Katy to the ground. I heard the sickening crack as Ellis landed on Katy's leg, then her painful scream. The hunter had pinned him, meaning he couldn't remove his weight from Katy's leg.

"GET IT OFF!" they both yelled. We all seemed to aim our guns in harmony, and placed at least ten bullets in the hunter. Ellis got up quickly, trying his best not to hurt Katy. She cried, and curled her leg in towards her. She cradled her knee, and tried to avoid touching her shin.

"We have to get to the next safe house, _now,"_ Coach said sternly. Ellis picked up Katy as gently as possible, and cradled her. Rochelle was next to him in an instant, standing guard.

_Oh god, what have I done? _


	4. Play my heart correctly, and you'll win

_**Joker **__a girl on the verge of tears_

_**Joker **__a burl of created fears_

~oOo~

_It was all my fault. _Maybe if I had just let her lean against me…Maybe if I had kept her…..So many if's, and's, buts…..

Katy was lying on the sleeping bag in the corner of the safe house, sleeping after the horrific events that took place after we arrived. Coach had seen these kinds of breaks before, and he said he had to pop the bone back in place to make sure it healed correctly. Katy's scream still echoed through my mind.

I sat in the opposite corner with my face buried in my knees. My gun was shoved off to the side of me. I hated it now. _I HATE YOU LORETTA! _I screamed childishly in my mind.

"Is she ok?" I heard Rochelle whisper.

"How should I know?" Nick muttered back. Were they talking about Katy?

"She's been sitting in that corner ever since we got in here," Rochelle murmured. Oh, so they were talking about me…..

"Yeah, I noticed," Nick's usual sarcasm made me want to laugh, but I felt like I couldn't smile.

"You should go talk to her."

"What the hell? Why should I do it?"

"You seem to have a better connection with her then the rest of us," Rochelle whispered.

"What about Rhianne or something?" He argued.

"Keep your voice down! You'll wake the others!" she whispered harshly. "The only other friend that hasn't gotten hurt probably isn't the best person to make her feel better. Besides, Rhi's already asleep." I heard Nick grumble something, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. I heard the shuffling of feet, and felt him sit next to me.

_Poke. _

"Go away." I muttered.

_Poke. _

"What the hell?" I demanded.

_Poke. _

"Seriously?" I lifted my head, and snarled at the smirk plastered across his face.

"Seriously." He said. I saw his eyes dart over to Rochelle, but then returned to me.

"What's up?"

"Are we really playing this game?" I sighed.

"Game?" he mused.

"Oi….." I rubbed my temples.

"The only games I play are the ones with cards and hearts," Nick smirked.

"Aren't they the same thing?" I asked. He gave me a puzzled look.

"You only use them to win whatever game you're playing, then you throw them down and your done with them. Put them back in the deck, and shuffle. You'll probably never see it again." I explained.

"That…..was extremely cheesy, and not to mention pretty morbid for a thirteen year old," He said after a short pause.

"Morbid," I mused darkly, "Morbid only begins to cover what I've been through."

"Care to share?"

"Not at all."

"Fine, be that way," he crossed his arms stubbornly. _What the fuck? _

"Don't be such a prissy bitch," I muttered.

"Oooo, someone's got their panties in a bunch," He smirked.

"Shut up that's my line," I grumbled. He didn't say anything back. I watched as he pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket, and began shuffling them. It seemed like it was almost an obsession with him.

"really Kid, what's wrong?"

"….you really wanna know….?" He didn't respond, he just kept shuffling his cards and stared at me with his emerald green eyes. _God damn it. _

"I'll tell you what; if you can beat me at a game of poker, I'll tell you. If I win, you let it go," I said.

"Deal, but I don't lose," Nick said.

**Two minutes later…..**

"Straight flush," he said, showing me his cards.

"How the fuck…..?" I looked at his cards, then back at mine. Then I noticed something in my card deck and smiled.

"Royal Flush," I said, throwing down my cards.

"Liar, you have the joker," he argued. I picked up the card and twirled it in my fingers.

"The Joker: It can win the game for you or fuck it up, depends on how you use it…..just like me," I mused.

"…..You're the joker card?" he asked.

"Of course. If you play my heart correctly, I can win the game. If you play it incorrectly…..you lose. Besides, life is but a poker game~" I smiled. I was wondering where all of this was coming from.

"What about Rhianne? Or Katy?" He asked. Was he really interested, or just trying to distract me while he switched out his cards?

"Rhianne is the ace. The ninja card that will save the day, the all powerful one. Katy….Katy is the queen. Strong, but weak. Of small value, but isn't afraid to crush you."

"What about me?" I stopped for a second. I looked up at him, and all I saw was genuine curiosity in his eyes.

"The king," I decided.

"And why is that?"

"You are powerful, but fall at the hands of the joker," I smirked. He chuckled, and looked at me for a minute.

"I like the way you think Kid," he said.

"Ya know? Me too," I laughed. It was quiet for a few moments.

"So…..I say we go with the idea that I won and you tell me what's wrong," he said.

"Nope. I won."

"I know you want to tell me," he said. His gaze intensified, and one word came to my mind: _PEDOPHILE. _i laughed at the thought, but wasn't going to say it out loud.

"Fine….I'll tell you," I muttered.

"Ok. Go ahead. I'm all ears," he smirked. I sighed.

"I think its my fault Katy got hurt," I said. He laughed: I glared.

"Just as I thought…." He mused.

"Listen, if you aren't going to take it seriously then I really don't want to talk to you," I snarled.

"Jesus, you don't have to be so snappy," he fought back.

"I don't? My best friend's leg is broken because of my brilliant idea! Don't you get it? My card was played _wrong, _and now Katy is paying for it." I hissed.

"It's not your fault," he said softly.

"Don't. Please just…..let me hold on to this one thing," I murmured.

"What do you mean….?"

"Without something to hold onto…..the joker card will be ripped to pieces."

~oOo~

**Hell yeah! Two chapters in one night! Sorry this one is kind of short, but I wanted to get through it. XD as you can see, the character relationships are starting to develop. ^-^ and poor Katy :( its not fun breaking bones…*shudders* anyway…..review for the depressed child that is going insane? :D *cough* Bri *cough***


	5. I won't let you touch her

_**Joker **__a second of great pleasure_

_**Joker **__a beckoned runaway leisure_

~oOo~

The rustling of someone else getting out of bed brought us away from our conversation. It was Ellis and Rhianne. They both came over and took a seat by us.

"Heya," I said, putting on my best smile. I saw Nick eye me out of the corner of my eye. I was going to pretend the conversation we just had never happened.

"What's up?" Nick asked casually.

"Couldn't sleep," Rhianne mumbled.

"Liar. You kept kickin' me," Ellis grinned. Rhianne laughed, but it didn't touch her eyes.

"What's wrong Rhi?"

"Nothing….its…..its Katy," She said. The three of us shared a look, then looked back at Rhianne, and waited for her to continue.

"Is she healthy enough to continue?" She asked.

"Even if she isn't, she would still keep going. Plus we couldn't leave her behind," I said simply.

"I know, but if we keep going she's just going to slow us down," she said each word with care, almost as if she said it wrong she would be in trouble.

"….What are you getting at Rhianne?" Nick asked.

"I think we should mercy kill her." Everything in the room seemed to stop. Suddenly we were all standing, watching her every move.

"You're kidding right?" Venom dripped from my words. I felt like I was in defense mode.

"No." That's when I saw it: the magnum that had been attached to her leg was now in her hand, her finger on the trigger.

"That's just wrong Rhi! We ain't got the heart to kill a kid!" Ellis argued.

"If you won't, then I will," She growled. Her words stung me like a thousand bees.

"No, you won't," I snarled.

"And what's going to stop me?" she laughed, as if the idea was absurd.

"I will," I said, taking a step forward. Suddenly, the gun was pointed at me. I took a sharp intake of breath, and didn't move.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU TOO. I WON'T HESITATE. I'LL PULL THE DAMN TRIGGER AND SEND YOU ON YOUR MERRY FUCKING WAY!" Rhianne yelled, the gun was still pointed directly at my forehead. Rochelle and Coach stirred, and looked over at us.

"What the hell?"

"Young'un, what the hell are you doing?" They demanded.

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" She cried. I couldn't believe it. THIS was my best friend, and now she wanted to kill Katy AND me?

"Go ahead." I said. Everyone stopped.

"Bri are you insane?" Nick said harshly.

"No, I'm not. If you're going to kill Katy, or me, just do it already! If you're so fucking sure of it, DO IT!" I cried. I wouldn't show her just how afraid I was.

"Why?" she finally asked.

"Why? If you kill Katy, what do I have left? Isn't it obvious Rhi? _I just lost you too." _

"But you haven't lost Katy yet," She said after a few seconds. The gun was lowering, slowly, but steadily. _Oh god, I said too much. _They didn't know…

"Not yet. Which means we can still avoid it," I said, taking a step closer. I reached out towards the gun, but she flinched back.

"Do you really think I would let her kill me?" The voice made me stop. Oh no….Katy woke up.

"Of course not. We wouldn't let her anyway," Rochelle said.

"Drop it Rhi," Katy said, getting up slowly. Rhi turned the gun to Katy, almost as if to say _come closer, I dare you. _

"Rhi, I don't know if you remember, but we're best friends. If that means _anything _to you, you're going to drop the gun." She hesitated, which scared me, and I acted. I grabbed the magnum from Nick's holster on his leg (which he was obviously shocked by) and attempted to hit Rhi upside the head with it. Yes, I was aiming for a pistol whip. But she turned at the last second, and hit me instead. As the gun connected with the back of my head, my vision went black. I felt myself hit the ground, but didn't have the strength to get back up.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"She started it!" I heard a something along the lines of a struggle, and someone being slammed against a wall.

"You listen to me you little brat," Nick's voice….. "You hurt her again and I swear I'll shoot you. _I SWEAR to god, I WILL SHOOT YOU." _I tried blinking, and my vision returned. It was blurry, and the back of my head was throbbing. As I tried sitting up, my head exploded with pain. I reached my hand back as a natural reaction, and felt something warm. I pulled my hand back, and the red blob of color immediately made me aware of the fact that I was bleeding.

"You ok Bri?" Nick's voice was soft, and I could tell he was right next to me.

"Well, my best friend wants to kill my other best friend, she pistol whipped me, I'm bleeding, my vision is blurry as shit, and my head hurts like a bitch. I'm just fuckin' dandy," I said harshly.

"Yeah you're ok," Nick laughed. I didn't laugh along with him. I kept blinking, but my vision still wouldn't re-adjust.

"Fuck, I can't see," I muttered miserably.

"Sorry Bri," I heard Rhianne say from the other side of the room.

"Fuck you," I spat at her without a second thought. I was apparently still in defense mode.

"Just ignore it," Nick said. I sat back against the wall, trying to avoid placing my head against it.

"We need to bandage that up," He said.

"No shit Sherlock," I bit back. He sighed, and I felt pressure applied on my head.

"OW." I complained. He pressed it again, and my vision went back into focus.

"What the hell….?" I murmured to myself. I looked around the room, and noticed Ellis and Rhi in the corner. They were whispering to each other, but I couldn't hear them. Rhianne looked extremely guilty. _She should. _Rochelle and Coach were tending to Katy, and Nick was with me.

"Done." He said. The bandages had literally been wrapped around my head.

"Not bad for a con man," I smiled. I sighed, and leaned against him. My head was still throbbing, but I felt extremely weak. I closed my eyes, and let my nightmares take over.

~oOo~

**Oh my, I'm sorry if that didn't make sense. XD But Rhianne actually did say that if Katy broke her leg that she would want to mercy kill her. Well, this chapter was the result. ^-^;; Review? :D**


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